Rio Grande Natural Area Commission meets March 14 in Cañon City (03-05-13)

The Rio Grande Natural Area Commission will meet Thursday, March 14 from 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Bureau of Land Management Front Range District office, 3028 East Main St., Cañon City, Colo.

The meeting is open to the public with a comment period scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Agenda topics include:

· Discussing a draft plan for the non-Federal lands within the Natural Area

· Reports on a writer-editor for drafting the plan, cadastral survey, and how to interpret or protect the cultural resources in the Natural Area

· The Commission will tour the Wild horse and Inmate training facility in the afternoon

The Rio Grande Natural Area was established on Oct. 12, 2006, to conserve, restore, and protect the natural, historic, cultural, scientific, scenic, wildlife, and recreational resources of the 33-mile stretch of the Rio Grande River between the southern end of the Alamosa Wildlife Refuge and the Colorado-New Mexico state border. The Natural Area encompasses 5,900 acres of private land, and 2,900 acres of BLM lands within ¼ mile of the river’s banks.

The Rio Grande Natural Area Commission is a nine-member group created to advise the Secretary of Interior with respect to the Natural Area and to develop a non-binding management plan for the non-federal land within the Natural Area.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.